Hey guys, remember me? I bet you thought I had forgotten about this little writing! The answer is, quite simply: I had no idea how to portray Refia! Anywho, time to add yet another character!
°Arc 1: The Crystal's Will°
°Chapter 3: The Smith's Daughter°
I stared at the two boys, my knife drawn. One thing I had learned from being the smith's daughter is you must always pay attention if you don't want to get burned. Out of the two of them, there was a silver-haired one who gave of an air of self-confidence and the feeling that he was cool and he knew it. The brown-haired one was almost the complete opposite, always tapping his foot, shifting, or moving in some way that gave me the impression he was always nervous.
"Listen, I don't know who you are, or how you infiltrated this airship, but I'm warning you, I know how to use this," I shouted, brandishing the knife in front of me. Don't call my bluff, don't call my bluff!
"I'm calling your bluff," the silver-haired one said, smiling.
Damn it!
"Your stance is all wrong, and you're holding the knife completely incorrectly. No way you know what you're doing. And even if you did, I don't think you would be able to use that to fend of this," he said, drawing a beautiful longsword.
The brown-haired one looked taken aback at this.
"Where in God's name did you get that?" he asked, eyeing the blade warily.
"In the cave," he replied simply. That didn't help me at all, but it seemed to satisfy the brown-haired one, who nodded.
"Listen, can we get back to the question of what the hell you are doing in my airship?" I asked, surprised at how crazed I sounded. Running away from home (again) can do that to a girl.
"Your airship?" the brown-haired boy asked. "This is Cid's. He's letting us borrow it. Who are you?"
Uh-oh I thought silently. I hadn't taken into account they may ask who I am… I can't say the truth; they may know me. "I'm Refia, the smith's daughter." Damn it, me! Why can't I ever just lie? Well, they may not have heard of me…
"You mean that one who ran away?" silver-haired asked.
This is just not my day.
"Yeah, that one. By the way, you never told me your guy's names," I said.
Silver-hair smiled the kind of smile that made you want to punch him square in the face.
"I'm Luneth. This is Arc, my brother," he said, gesturing to the nervous-looking kid.
"Brothers, huh? Well, you two couldn't be more different."
Luneth seemed to think that was funny. "Adoptive brothers," he clarified.
"That makes more sense. So, why did Cid give you the airship?"
The brown-haired one, Arc, answered: "So we can try to find a way to break the curse that's overtaken the continent. But if you're the smith's daughter, can't you just craft one?"
"I…can't. I didn't study far enough to work with mithril. I didn't want to," I replied guiltily.
"I can't imagine Cid being happy about that news," Luneth said, still smiling.
"Wait, I can't craft mithril rings, but I know where there is one. A year ago, on Princess Sara's eighteenth birthday, my father presented her with the ring. She probably still has it."
"Well, what are we waiting for? Let's go!" Luneth exclaimed. I wasn't sure whether I liked him or not. Arc, on the other hand, I instantly knew I would enjoy having around. Though he did seem quiet, I had a feeling after traveling with Luneth for a while, that would be a welcomed change.
Something seemed to occur to Arc at that very moment.
"Erm…how are we supposed to fly this thing? I've only read about them, but I've never so much as seen a real airship. And unless Luneth knows how, we're pretty much grounded."
My smile must have scared him a bit, because he took a few steps back.
"Don't you worry about that! I took a few lessons from Cid during his time here. I know exactly how to fly this thing."
"I'm not sure whether to be comforted or scared…" Luneth said, his smile faltering.
Sorry for the long wait. What's it been now, a month? Well, at least you got this chapter to keep you occupied in waiting for yet the next one! After this, there will only be three more chapters in this arc, so I'm halfway through the first part! I may be able to finish this within my lifetime at this rate…